My daughter goes to McDaniel. She started her freshman year last fall in the middle of the pandemic and the school has been fabulous about ensuring student safety. They have frequent spot-checking with random COVID testing and have great systems in place for isolation and quarantine. Most of the classes are hybrid or totally online. This works out well because students are able to be on campus but take their classes online from their dorms. It's a good system because it keeps large gatherings to a minimum, but the students have ready in-person access to faculty as well - something crucial to success for first-year students transitioning to college life. Administration is communicative with parents. Most of the on-campus population is first-year students, with the more experienced students able to stay off campus and use distance learning. I think that a lot of what they are doing is easier for McDaniel because it is such a small school and might not be feasible in larger schools. Westminster is a fabulous, quaint little town with plenty of the usual college hangouts like cafes. The school is situated in a great area full of restaurants, shopping centers, etc. All in all, we are pleased with everything.

The only reason this college still exists is because of the Econ, business, and accounting department. They’re the only department that seems to know what is going on. Everyone else I speak with just wants me to take another useless class and spend another 50k I don’t have. I CANT with this school anymore! The registrar told me I wouldn’t graduate on time because THEY messed something up and I about lost it. Not to mention any class outside of the Econ, Business, and Accounting department is basically an indoctrination. The only reason this review isn’t 1 star is because of my AMAZING Accounting, econ, and business professors. They are very helpful and knowledgeable on the subjects from real world experience. All the others are very little help and seem so ingrained in academia they have ZERO idea what it’s like outside.

I am not a student here, just attending a two day conference in one of the buildings. Three star rating is because it's not very wheelchair friendly. Sidewalks (the ones I had to use anyway) are pavestone or brick, which will rattle your teeth in a chair. Main building had wheelchair access doors on the outside, and some interior doors, but the door to the restroom was heavy and self-closing and literally impossible to navigate on my own. Not a lot of fun to have to ask someone to help you so that you can go use a restroom. Not only that but there are no restrooms on the main floor of the building I'm in, so I have to go all the way down the hall to the elevator and all the way back to the women's restroom, which is on the complete opposite side of the building as the elevator. I'm only having to use a wheelchair temporarily, but I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have to use one full time and deal with the infrastructure here.

I like this place, but the souvenirs are expensive and the dorms don't look to good.

Love, love, love this place, but it's certainly not for everyone. This is a beautiful small college in a small, historic Maryland town about 40 miles west of Baltimore. The emphasis here is on quaint and peaceful, not diverse and bustling. The campus is really pretty, but it's also small and somewhat isolated. Westminster is also a lovely town, but it's not a party town by any stretch. For any kind of real cultural activity, you'll need to drive to Frederick or, even better, Baltimore.